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> Results: Cooking Mama 2: Dinner With Friends
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The ESRB Says
Alcohol Reference: GamerDad was cooking with alcohol ... don't worry, it boils off and the food is safe for the kids! Before I even start sharpening my knives, let me make one thing clear - if you didn't like Cooking Mama, or found it incidental fun you barely touched, you won't like this. This game does little to change the recipe of the original, instead adding some side dishes and garnishes that will provide fans of the original plenty of reasons to grab this follow-up. At its' core the gameplay is very simple - you simply follow a series of steps to create a variety of recipes using the stylus. If you are asked to stir a pot, you swirl the stylus in the direction indicated; if you are asked to slice or chop, you either move the stylus in the indicated direction of tap on the chopper to accomplish your task. And that is pretty much all there is to the game - follow instructions and create recipes. One criticism is that some some of the challenges are tougher than others due to the stylus control - but since different people seem to struggle with different things it seems like as much of a human interaction issue as anything else. There are new recipes and plenty of new game modes and the addition of some of Mama's 'friends' to cook for, along with some fairly useless but fun unlockable items to dress up everything from dishes to the kitchen to Mama herself! The simple yet fun multiplayer (single card download play as well as multi-card) remains every bit as simple and fun in the sequel - and also fortunately download play is still featured. Multiplayer is a straight competition for fastest time between players completing tasks. Once again, it might not be the deepest or broadest multiplayer one could imagine for the game, but it augments the single player mode perfectly. This was fun during a recent long car trip as my wife borrowed my DS and played against both of our kids - they mixed up single player and multiplayer and all had a blast. Perhaps the easiest criticism is that this is largely just more of the same - the game takes what you did in the original and extends it somewhat, but mostly doesn't mess with the 'original recipe' very much. But a quick survey of my family tells me what I already knew - they did things exactly right. Casual gamers will not have tapped every depth of the original, so the sequel delivers just enough new stuff mixed with plenty of familiar territory that folks will come to the new game with a certain sense of expertise yet will still have plenty of room for new accomplishments. In that regard Cooking Mama 2: Dinner with Friends is much like its' predecessor - remember the context around this game: an experience that is simple to pick up, simple to put down, playable in short bursts, easy enough for non-gamers while challenging enough for experienced gamers, and fun, Fun, FUN! And in that context the game is an absolute success - it is the game that you will find all sorts people searching out over time, from the non-gamer to the hardcore, everyone will enjoy some cooking time with Mama!  
Just like the original, Cooking Mama 2: Dinner with Friends is all about accomplishing small tasks. It is a perfect game for anyone old enough to work a stylus and anyone young enough at heart to see the joys of Cooking with Mama!
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